Through the Mirror
by Shall be in water writ
Summary: The springtime familiar summoning ritual knows exactly what familiar a mage need. But rituals are tricky things, they don't really bother evaluating the familiar itself, even though it really really should have in this case. Louise gets a mirror. An innocent looking mirror, a little fancy, but nothing special. She thinks.
1. Chapter 1 Mirror

**Re-edited.**

The sound of polite clapping filled the courtyard as the assembled students applauded the latest familiar to be summoned, a beautiful red salamander whose summoner was busy gushing over his elegant features. The summoner in question was cuddling the cute little critter close to her chest, a position nearly every male student was envious of. Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhelt-Zerbst had hair as red as the salamander she was clutching, with a beauty that never failed to inspire envy or lust in either sex. As she gracefully returned to the crowd, beaming in pleasure and delight at her successful summoning of a familiar which matched her mage name to a T, the teacher supervising the ritual, professor Jan Colbert, called out to his gathered students.

"Has everyone summoned a familiar?" He asked, casting a gaze around the clearing brimming with magical creatures. The springtime familiar summoning was one of the three major magical rituals undertaken by the students at the Tristain Academy of Magic. It was the first and arguably most important of the three, for the students attending the academy, at least. It was commonly assumed that the familiar reflected the summoner, and the better, stronger or more beautiful a familiar, so too the summoner.

"No professor Colbert," Kirche spoke, and in her sultry tone, the undertone of glee and amusement was apparent to all who heard her. "The Zero has not summoned a familiar yet."

Professor Colbert did not sigh nor blink, but his face tightened ever so slightly. It was quick and gone in the blink of an eye, almost imperceptible to any who was not looking. The Zero, of course, was a student's mage name. However, it was not one chosen by the mage, rather bestowed upon her by her fellow classmates for her inability to do any sort of magic. It was poetic in a blunt manner, and extremely hurtful. And yet, despite his desires to prevent such bullying, his hands were tied. Especially because the student in question had demanded he not treat her any differently from the other students. In view of her request, he had turned a blind eye to the matter. "Miss Louise de la Valliere." He called out, and shot the pinkette who strolled up a reassuring glance. She didn't notice.

The small diminutive pinkette did not flinch as she strode onto the summoning platform, her head held high and her hands firm and steady, her expression serene and controlled. Even when the whispering began, the soft undertones of disdain and jeers reaching her ears, poorly disguised so as to seem accidental, she did not blink an eye. The second rule of steel. Never let them see your pain. With a deep breath, she turned to the professor, who was smiling encouragingly at her and nodded. Feeling the knot in her stomach loosen ever so slightly, the young mage in training mustered the last of her courage.

Louise Francoise Le Blanc de la Valliere took a deep breath and closed her eyes. To the observer, she was the picture of calm and poise. Inside, however, she was praying desperately not to fail the summoning ritual. Up until now, no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, every single spell she cast ended in an explosion of dust. Once, in sheer desperation, she had spent an entire evening and the following morning casting every spell she knew, had learned or seen in her entire life. Not a single one, hard or simple, had been successful. Nobody could help her, and there were many whispers that perhaps she was a bastard and ill-begotten. That perhaps she was a fake, and the Vallieres were not, in fact, actual nobles. Of course, no one said it to her face, as that would force her to challenge them to a duel for insulting her honor. But it was not done out of fear for defeat, rather, no one dared to incur the wrath of her mother. Karin of the heavy wind, the strongest mage in all of Tristain, and some would even say, the world.

'I must not fail', she murmured softly to herself. But her voice was tinged with despair and she tasted the bitter tang of defeat. Why would today be any different? She fought against the cloud of fear and hopelessness as best she could. 'I am a Valliere, and in my blood runs the blood of the greatest mages in all of Halkeginia. I must not fail. I will not fail.' Muttering to herself, Louise gritted her teeth and with a colossal effort, pushed away her fears and doubts and slowly began to chant. "I, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, following my fate, do summon a familiar. Together we will forge our destinies as one, oh beautiful, divine and powerful servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, heed my call and obey my will!" The stone platform glowed so bright everyone needed to shield their eyes against the glare. Everyone except Louise. She saw nothing, only darkness cover her vision and felt her magic drain out of her, faster than any spell she had ever tried to cast and gasped at the emptiness that remained. There was an abyss of pure darkness yawning in her chest, and the sensation froze her blood and terrified her. But that same fear freed her mind and she pushed every last drop of her magical energy into the summoning. She pushed so hard that she tasted blood as she bit down on her tongue, but still nothing happened. It wasn't enough. Louise's eyes widened, and suddenly her fears fell away from her as everything around her seemed to disappear. There was only her and her magic. 'I. Won't. Give. Up.' She barely felt her limbs, so concentrated was Louise on the ritual. Something shifted, just outside her perception, outside time and space and magi-, then the world exploded into a massive cloud of dust.

When she came to, Louise found herself choking on the dust and coughed bitterly, feeling her stomach clench as dread flooded her. The familiar cold sensation of shame mingled with fear slowly crept down her spine. She had failed. But she had been so close, Louise felt tears well inside her eyes, and she did not know if she would be able to hold them back. As the cloud dissipated, she caught sight of a shadowy shape hidden within its grey folds. The sudden surge of hope and relief she felt was dashed into pieces when the object finally revealed itself. Horrified, Louise gazed upon an ornate mirror standing in the previously empty clearing. It was intricately carved, the golden frame elegantly wrought and the glass smooth and silvery. Its legs were carved out of a rich black wood, with swirls and grooves etched into its framework. All in all, it was a magnificently crafted piece of furniture, well worth a few hundred ecus. But it was not a familiar.

She didn't know who laughed first, but in the end, it didn't matter. Shortly after the cloud of dust cleared, the entire class was laughing at her familiar. She felt tears threaten to escape, but she did not shed them. Blinking furiously, she fought them off by reciting the second rule of steel in her mind, over and over. Eventually, Professor Colbert walked up to her with a perplexed expression etched into his kind features. "This is certainly very baffling, Miss De la Valliere. I must speak with headmaster Osmond about this. Until then, I will ask the servants to carry your … familiar to your room." Louise didn't trust her voice so she nodded instead and fled the courtyard at a dead run. The jeers and taunts rang in her ears, the invisible words echoing in her skull like a song she could not get rid of.

As she burst into her quarters at the academy, she felt empty and drained. The day's events caught up to her, and she felt empty and hollow after using all her magic in one go. The emotional rollercoaster ride had not helped things any. She was unconscious before her head even hit the pillow.

She woke late into the evening, convinced everything had simply been a nightmare. Louise de la Valliere could not fail something as simple as a summoning ritual, right? The sight of the ornate mirror beside her luxurious bed shattered her hopes. This time, the tears came unbidden and uncontrolled. Her resolve could not sustain her, not when there was no one around her to see her misery. And so Louise sobbed into her pillow, muffling her weeping and cursing her very existence. To summon nothing or to summon this. Which was worse? It took a few minutes, but eventually she ran out of tears and self-pity. Louise slowly slid into a half lotus position, gazing listlessly around her. She would not indulge in this any longer, it served no purpose and would not help her current situation at all. Gathering what remained of her wits, she clambered to her feet and approached the massive mirror. Perhaps it was a talking mirror? Her heart pounded in her chest as she dared to hope that perhaps this was not just a mirror. Her eyes slid to the immaculate and gleaming surface of the mirror. Her petite form, too immature to be pretty, with a non existent bust size reflected back. Her eyes seemed to mock her with their hopeful gaze, and then fell as reality slid back into place, cutting her deeply like a shard of broken glass. She looked pathetic. Quickly, she averted her eyes and suppressed a sniffle. Louise knew that if she started crying again, she would not be able to stop for a good while. It hurt to know she wasn't beautiful like Kirche, nor smart and pretty like Tabitha, no she didn't have any of those qualities. She was just Louise, the zero.

What would mother think of her now? The bitter disappointment of having failed her family brought on another wave of shame. Why had she been born like this? The mirror taunted her with her own pathetic reflection and Louise felt a sudden surge of irrational hatred toward the inanimate object. Somewhere inside of her, she knew it wasn't the mirror's fault for being summoned by an incompetent mage. But in that moment, she lost herself to the despair and rage clawing at her mind. She was too proud to kill herself, knowing that it would only shame her family even more. Perhaps her father would disown her? What would she do then? If only she had summoned something alive. Something sentient. Even a bug would have been better than this pathetic imitation of the real. She clenched her fists, knowing her magic was useless and punched the mirror, hard. She punched it again and again. And again. She punched the mirror until she could no longer feel her hands. In a small corner of her mind, Louise realized it really hurt and that it was stupid, but she could not feel anything. And so she punched away until she could not lift her hands.

Her hands were bleeding now, but the mirror remained as pristine as ever. Slowly, she slid to the ground in front of her mirror, all her energy expended from her angry fit. Her inner turmoil threatened to overwhelm her, and despite her attempts to control it, the many emotions surged through her like quicksilver and she drew her wand with trembling and bloody hands. She wasn't cognizant of what spell she cast, nor did she care. All Louise wanted was to break something, anything. In the ensuing explosion, Louise missed the mirror ripple and her blood slowly disappear. When the explosion cleared, Louise's familiar stood unharmed and unaffected. Not even a smidgen of dust clung to the polished glass.

"I hate you." She said at last, almost shouting the words. "I hate you," she repeated, but her voice sounded artificial to her. "No, I hate myself." She corrected herself quietly, finally subdued.

"Headmaster, I must inform you of a peculiarity during the springtime familiar summoning ritual." The old wizened figure of the headmaster nodded to professor Colbert to continue. "One of our students, Miss Louise de la Valliere, somehow managed to summon a mirror of all things as a familiar."

Osmond, or Old Osmond, as the students called him, looked up and nodded thoughtfully at his most trusted member of the staff. "Did you know," he said gleefully, "Matilda is wearing green panties?" His assistant, a green haired woman gave a startled yelp and stomped hard at the ground. A chittering sound followed by the pitter patter of small paws announced the departure of the white mouse and Osmond tutted in disapproval. Matilda de Sachsen-Gothe flushed bright red and fled the room, but not before slapping the headmaster across the face. Colbert sighed at Old Osmond's antics, but patiently waited for the headmaster to recover.

"A mirror, you say?" He said after a moment's thought, the pink hued blush on his cheeks giving away the direction of his previous thoughts. "It is rare indeed for something so strange to be summoned as a familiar. But the ritual knows what is best for the summoner. There has been precedent in a book being summoned as a familiar, long long ago, of course." Here he stroked his white beard and patted Chuchu on his head with his other hand. "Still, I find it most strange that a mirror would have been summoned for Miss Valliere. I would have expected such a thing for someone who was particularly vain, and I could not think of an object more ill-suited for her." He shrugged at last. "Who knows, the Great Pentagon Powers judge best and who am I to argue against their decision?"

Colbert frowned. "I don't think she finished her ritual, seeing how strange the summon was."

Osmond shrugged. "If it is truly a mirror, then there is nothing to worry about. The second part of the ritual is simply to prevent the creature in question from rampaging out of control. To be honest, it is a rather barbaric tradition." Here he shot Colbert a sharp gaze that contrasted greatly against his aged form. "I hope you'll keep that between us."

Professor Colbert dipped his head in acquiescence. "Of course." He agreed wholeheartedly, but such was the nature of the world they lived in.

Osmond continued. "An inanimate object can hardly cause a ruckus. I will inform Karin of what has happened. Please take care of Miss Valliere. She is more… delicate than she appears."

Colbert remembered the proud girl informing him politely that she did not require his aid and wondered if that was really true. Then again, although the girl was strong, it reminded Colbert of a wooden branch. Strong, but brittle and unyielding. Should she snap… Sighing, he left the headmaster's office after exchanging some more words on the day's events, his mind invariably drifting back to the only student in the entire academy who could not perform a spell properly.

For Louise, the next day was the worst. The quiet snickers and the soft taunts too inaudible for her to hear infuriated her. She didn't need to hear them to know what was being said about her. For the first time in her life, Louise could not bring herself to raise her head in class. When the teacher called upon her to demonstrate, she categorically refused, citing some obscenely ridiculous reason. The teachers did not press her, and she was grateful for it.

Professor Colbert eyed her bandaged hands during class, but did not otherwise remark about them. When the class was almost finished, he called her over and inquired on her health and well-being, before informing her that her familiar truly, of all things, a simple mirror. For a second, Louise wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him all her fears and hopes, but her pride and shame stopped her cold. The professor detected it as well, and his eyes were kind and open. Louise knew he would not laugh at her, but something in her twisted and the words she wanted to say vanished. Her mind blanked out, and then the moment passed, and it was too late to confess her feelings on the matter. With a false smile of quiet pride and reassurance, Louise informed him politely, but firmly that she was alright and that she did not need any special treatment. Jan Colbert gazed pityingly at the proud figure of Louise de la Valliere as she walked out of the room, hoping she would change her mind, but Louise did not turn back.

That night, she cried in front of her mirror again and this time she talked to her weeping reflection about all the fears and insecurities she had.

"I hate them. They look at me as if I don't belong here. Maybe they are right. No. I can't believe that." She gazed at her small reflection in the grandiose mirror and felt another surge of self-pity well inside her. "I don't know what to do. I wish I could do magic, just one spell would have been enough. But I can't do anything right, not even a proper explosion." She wailed softly, knowing she could not afford to make too much noise. The mirror gave no answer, but Louise had long given up hoping that the mirror was more than what it appeared to be. "I wish I was strong, like mother. She's so beautiful and strong." And it was true. Karin, duchess Valliere, was the type of person to make her own destiny, and nothing, not fate nor the world could stand against the storm that was her mother. Louise idolized her, she wanted nothing more than to be like her mother. But her pale reflection was a far cry from the elegance of her beautiful and strong mother. "I wish you were something other than a stupid mirror." She said the last without any bite, for she knew the blame was hers alone. And so the day ended.

The following week was only a little better as the rest of the student body came to terms with the novelty of her familiar. But it did nothing to stop their teasing, and as if to rub in her failure, everywhere Louise turned to, she would be met by another mage's familiar. It was a constant and bitter reminder of how badly she had screwed up. The mocking taunts from some of the braver students caused her much grief too. They were subtle about their remarks, careful to disguise their scorn and disdain behind a veneer of curiosity and politeness. They would inquire after her familiar, whether or not she was treating it well and so on and so forth. She gritted her teeth and did not deign to answer, but the damage was done. Never before had she hated her fellow peers as much as she did in that moment. Kirche, in a surprising turn of events, had actually defended her a few times. But Louise feared deception or worse, a plot, and avoided the red-hair as much as she could. Which was no simple task, seeing how they lived on the same floor, across from each other's bedroom.

There was, however, a more pressing issue that plagued Louise. Normally, after expending great amounts of magical energy, she would be lethargic for a day or so, and by the following morning her strength would be fully replenished. She was intimately familiar with the process, having burned herself empty many a nights trying desperately to do magic. This was not the case following the week after the familiar summoning ritual. Her magical well of strength had dried up and refused to replenish. Now, any spells she attempted, in private of course, did not even fail. No explosions, and definitely no actual magic. She was also running out of excuses to refuse the teacher's request for a practical demonstration. If she was called out… she shuddered to think of the rumors that would spread. Before, she was a failure, but at least she was still considered a mage.

Louise paced up and down her room, thinking about what to do. She needed help, that was clear, but who to turn to? Perhaps professor Colbert, but she was reluctant for a multitude of reason. Pride being the foremost. And mostly, because something about him made her wary. She didn't know what it was, but Professor Colbert reminded her of mother. And that was strange, because her mother was like the storm, a force of nature bound in physical form, and her professor was merely a kind and nerdy triangle fire mage obsessed with technology. They were as far apart as could be, and yet both had the same presence. And so, Louise did not confide in her teacher her fears.

One evening, a few days after her botched summoning, she confessed her inability to do any magic of any sort to her mirror. She was so distracted by her problems that she almost missed what happened next. Her reflection had not moved, even though Louise was no longer in front of the mirror. Her heart skipped a beat and she rushed to the fancy furniture and gaped as she looked into its gleaming surface. It was her, and yet it was not. Her reflection was smiling, a soft smirk of arrogance and her posture was one of supreme confidence. In her hands, five orbs of different colors revolved in a slow spiral pattern. But it was the scene behind her reflection that shocked her most. Where there had once been a mirror image of her room, there now was a large clearing riddled with bodies. Blood soaked the grass, dying the viridian a deep crimson. Louise stifled a scream as she recognized the brutalized and battered forms of her peers, and her eyes slid back to the Louise in the reflection. Somehow, inexplicably, she knew it was her reflection who had inflicted such carnage, despite the lack of blood on her. Her pristine reflection slowly raised her other hand and placed a finger over her ruby lips. Then she winked and Louise blinked and when her eyes opened again, her own pale and confused reflection met her bewildered gaze.

The rest of the night was hazy, and by the next morning, Louise decided that it had all just been a bad dream. To her infinite relief, she sensed her magical energies at normal levels after breakfast, this good news served to put the matter of the mysterious reflection out of her mind. Perhaps she had just pushed herself too hard during the summoning ritual? Whatever the case, she was grateful for it. Never before had she welcomed the explosion, signifying her failure at casting another elementary spell. Better a failure of a noble, than a commoner who could not wield magic at all. The laughter of her peers did not dampen her mood and she held her head high the whole day. Professor Colbert inquired after her again, noticing her drastic change of mood, but Louise stubbornly informed him everything was alright.

Louise was lying on her back, gazing onto her frescoed ceiling, recounting the day's events, including a particularly nasty collision with a maidservant who had not been paying attention to where she had been going. At first, Louise had been furious, for the tea the servant had been carrying had almost scalded her arm, and the dress she had worn was most certainly ruined, but one look into the despairing face of the raven haired maiden had instantly dispersed her fury. Louise recognized the look, that same hopeless gaze of a person who knew their future had just shattered into a million pieces, for not a few days ago, Louise had had the exact same expression on her own petite face. And so, instead of reporting the incident and getting the maid fired, as any other student would, Louise had calmly picked herself up and left, with only the words, "Make sure this doesn't happen again."

"It felt good." Louise said, unconscious of the small smile tugging at her lips. She was suddenly struck by a thought and frowned. "No… It wasn't because I could have had her fired and didn't." Louise didn't care for power like that, contingent on the weakness of another, no, her pleasure was derived entirely of being able to save someone else from the pit of despair which she knew intimately well. "Besides," Louise giggled. "Forgiveness is a sign of strength, for it is harder to forgive then to hate another." She echoed her mother's word, knowing them to be true.

The mirror rippled suddenly, but Louise did not notice as she continued to recount everything about her day until she grew too tired to speak and fell asleep. Outside, the moon gleamed iridescently as the night deepened and a stray moonbeam fell across the gilded mirror that was her familiar. And although Louise was nowhere near the mirror, her reflection moved in the glass of its own volition. The clone of her was perfect down to the last degree, identical in all aspects except one. The Louise in the looking glass had deep lavender colored pupils. And the smirk on her face was one born of true arrogance and pride. Slowly, her movements fluid and graceful, so unlike her living counterpart, Louise's reflection raised a dainty hand and touched the surface of the mirror from within. The glass rippled violently, like waves on a stormy sea, before her reflection lowered her hand and smiled gently. 'Soon.' She mouthed, her eyes fixed adoringly on the innocent pinkette who slept atop her comfortable bed, oblivious to the world around her.

The next day, Louise ran across the same maid who had bumped into her yesterday and in a strange inversion of events, she crashed into the maid this time. Louise gazed at the maid, unsure what to say or do. The maid looked frightened, but the tinge of despair that had decorated their first meeting was gone. They both knew Louise was not going to get her in trouble. Louise was wondering what protocol dictated her to do, but quickly discarded it after a moment's consideration. Most nobles would simply assert the fault was the servant's, even when it was not, and Louise knew such behavior was beneath her. And yet, she could not apologize, for her station did not permit her to. Right?

Sighing, Louise pretended to dust her dress. Luckily, no tea was spilled this time, since the maidservant had not been holding anything in her hands at the moment of collision. "I'm Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere." She said at last, for lack of anything else. Honestly, what would mother do? The pinkette had a feeling her mother simply would never have let herself be in such a situation in the first place.

"I know," Siesta said, her head still lowered in a semi-bow. For a second, she was bewildered. How? Then Louise's eyes narrowed. Had she been reduced to such a laughingstock that even a servant knew of her plight? Had her reputation stretched to even the servant's gossip?

Siesta sneaked a glance at the short noble in front of her and saw her thunderous expression. Hastily, she added, "I've seen you practice spells in the courtyard during the early morning hours." It was the wrong thing to say. Siesta admired Louise for her attitude and unwavering spirit and saw the training as a symbol of her indomitable spirit. But whereas Siesta saw it as something to be proud of, Louise saw only shame. Here she was, reduced to having to sneak around the courtyard at night in order to practice alone, and she had been seen whilst in the midst of her shame. By a maid no less.

Louise felt her fury flare within her like a snake uncoiling itself to strike. "I do not want your pity." She said coldly, and swiftly turned to leave.

Siesta felt a pang of sadness, wanting to tell Louise that it wasn't pity, but admiration, but she felt the words choke in her throat. She watched miserably as the small form of Louise disappear into the dining hall. She spent the next week, waiting for the hammer to fall, but Louise never reported her. Siesta felt confused and despite her desire to clarify the situation, she stayed away from the pinkette for fear of eliciting her anger again. Twice, she had gained a reprieve, and Siesta could not afford to tempt fate a third time. Not when her family depended on her job.

A few weeks after the summoning, things quieted down as the novelty of the mirror died down. Louise was still unable to produce any magic apart from harmless and cute little explosions. She grew increasingly frustrated and short-tempered, but never allowed her rage to overcome her. Her control and discipline was constantly tested, but always Louise held her ground. To lose control was to lose the game, and she would not permit these imbeciles the delight of harming her. They could not harm her. At least, that was what she told herself. The laughter was easy enough to deal with, but the pinkette was not deaf to the increasingly insulting rumors that floated around the academy. She had no friends, and Kirche had resumed her brand of teasing, not that Louise recognized it as such. The only solace Louise found was in her daily one sided confessions to her mirror.

Things continued in this vein for another month or so, when suddenly rumors that a particularly strong rogue mage had been spotted near the treasury. Fouquet of the crumbling dirt, a powerful triangle earth mage who had a penchant for violence and thievery. The students were warned to not wander alone in the evenings, and a curfew was established, much to the annoyance and anger of several students. Louise did not like the curfew, as it cut away her free time to practice magic, or attempt to practice at any rate, but she grudgingly accepted as she had no other choice.

The sun was out, and not a cloud was in sight, only the color blue, rich and vast like an ocean in the sky, stretched above the Tristain Academy of Magic. Louise sighed contentedly to herself as she sipped her cool tea under the shade of a magnificent oak. Around her, the many familiars of the other students mingled with each other as their masters communed excitedly amongst themselves. Rumors had it that a duel had been issued by a Guiche de Gramont, fourth son of the Gramont family, whose fierce deeds during the war had earned them a place amongst the nobility. Their family line boasted of many line and triangle earth mages, and Guiche himself was a solid line mage with good prospects of advancing higher in rank. The altercation, at least from what Louise managed to gather from the gossiping crowds, had been that a bottle of perfume made by Montmorency Margarita la Fere de Montmorency had somehow sparked a lover's feud between Guiche, her current boyfriend and a jealous rival. Somehow another girl, Katie Carpette de Bouvier, had gotten entangled in the web of conflict. What was certain, was that Guiche had been slapped by both girls, and he blamed the other student. Thus, he issued a challenge which had been accepted and they were due to fight any moment in the Vestri courtyard. Louise did not care in the slightest, but she supposed it would be a nice change of scenery to see their battle.

The place was crowded, and being as short as she was, Louise found it rather difficult to find a place to sit and watch. She was looking around for a quiet place with a good vantage point, when Kirche whistled and called out to her.

"Louise the Zero! Come sit with us!" Bristling at the name, Louise caught sight of the red headed noble. She was seated atop a nearby tree branch, beside a blue haired bespectacled girl who acknowledged her with a short wave of her hand. Tabitha, the quintessential model student. Perfect and quiet, not a single teacher could find fault in her in any way. Also the best friend of Kirche. Finished with her greeting, the blue haired girl turned back to her book and that was that. Sighing exasperatedly, and knowing there would not be a better spot available, she made her way to them and accepted Kirche's hand with a poise and grace befitting her station. Or so she liked to imagine. Before Kirche could make any disparaging remarks, Guiche stepped out from the circle of students and a sudden hush claimed the courtyard.

"Clarence Soufflee de Perret, I offer you this chance to forfeit and acknowledge your mistake." Guiche spoke with confidence, a rose held in one hand while the other made a sweeping gesture toward the ground. "What say you?"

Louise admitted to herself that he did cut a fine figure standing there with his rose clasped in his non dominant hand. But of course, she would never say such a thing aloud, and besides, she had seen far better. A faint blush rose in her cheeks as her thoughts drifted to someone else. Kirche, of course, mistook this.

"My, I didn't know you had such feelings for Guiche, perhaps I should introduce the two of you?" Kirche waggled her eyebrows in a very unsubtle manner.

Louise growled in annoyance. "Nonsense. Guiche is nothing but a boy playing at being a man. I haven't the slightest interest in him. Unlike you, I have standards." She sniffed imperiously.

Kirche pouted cutely. "It's not my fault I was born with such bountiful assets." She crossed her arms and her breasts bounced slightly. Several nosebleeds erupted in the crowd and she grinned impishly at Louise. "Alas, perhaps someday you will understand." She was looking pointedly at the pnkette's chest.

Their banter was interrupted before they could denigrate to hurling insults when the other student, Clarence, stepped forward with a grim look on his face. "I accept your challenge, Guiche de Gramont."

"Very well." Guiche said solemnly. He then snapped his rose forward and several petals fell to the ground. From each sprung a column of light, and Clarence's face paled. When it faded, there were four golems of bronze standing in the courtyard. Guiche raised an eyebrow condescendingly. "Do you yield? Or shall I instruct you in the art of violence first?"

Even though Louise thought Guiche was a fop and a coward, she had to admit things looked grim for Clarence. Guiche was named the Bronze for a reason after all, and no matter how cowardly he was inside, he was still the son of a general. Those golems were tough and difficult to deal with especially since the students did not have access to spells that did heavy damage. Louise could think of twenty off the top of her head. And she knew exactly how to use them, theoretically. Her problem lay in an entirely different realm. Her lips thinned into a line as she gazed at their posturing with unveiled disapproval.

Clarence shook his head resolutely and raised his wand. He had courage, Louise gave him that. Better a defeat then a surrender. There was honor in the former, and none in the latter. Guiche made a gesture and the golems rushed forward. The former tried to summon a gust of wind to blow the golems away, but it was a futile attempt. The bronze mannequins slowly but inevitably reached their destination and proceeded to pummel Clarence into the ground. After a few seconds, he shouted.

"I yield! I yield!" To which Guiche nodded and held out his hands. His golems retracted and became petals once again. "Now then sir, I believe you owe me an apology."

Louise snorted in disgust and hopped off the tree branch. Kirche was too busy fawning over the fight to pay attention and Tabitha was still embroiled in her book. Shrugging, Louise departed without another word. That had been no duel, as Clarence was clearly only a dot mage, and a paltry one at that. The duels she had seen during her childhood had been ones of epic proportions. This was a farce compared to the duels her mother had fought it. The pinkette was also bitter about the fact that she could not even do any magic. If Clarence had dueled her, she would have lost as poorly as he did to Guiche. A dark haired girl floated across her mind's eye and Louise felt a spike of anger and shame flood her. Even the servants pitied her. Her! Louise de la Valliere, daughter of the greatest mage in all of Tristain's history. She had inherited her mother's pink hair, why not her aptitude in magic? It hurt.

"I hate this." She muttered fiercely. "I hate it. I hate it." She spent the rest of the day secluded in a small area and tried every single spell she knew or had seen for the hundredth time, hoping something would happen. Anything. And of course, nothing happened.

By the time she had exhausted herself, she realized that she had skipped dinner altogether and that it was way past curfew. Feeling slightly silly for having lost track of time, she turned to sneak back to her room, when the earth beneath her feet suddenly moved. She lost her balance and fell on all fours. At first Louise thought it was an earthquake, then she saw the golem. This was a real golem. Not the shoddy bronze sculptures that Guiche had made, no, this golem towered above even the greatest tower in the academy. It's massive frame was so large that Louise had to strain her neck to see its head. The thick arms of the golem was as wide as three of her and the colossal figure moved with a fluidity that did not belong on something as large as that. Fouquet was here.

Louise darted behind a nearby tree and peeked out nervously from behind it. The golem was smashing its thick hands against the treasury tower, trying to break in through brute force, but a force field was repelling it and each time the golem lost a portion of its hand trying to bash the stone structure in. To her astonishment, the golem was regenerating his broken limb at a rate which was deceptively quick. Fouquet was truly amazing, Louise thought. Triangle mage she may be, but such a work of magic belonged to square level territory. The knowledge of earth and the ability to multi-task on three different things simultaneously was a skill that separates the best from the good. Fouquet was no mere triangle mage, of that Louise was certain. She was surprised that no one else noticed the ruckus the golem was making, but she realized that for the same reason she liked to practice here, where no one ever came, so too did Fouquet choose well.

What should she do? What could she do? It was clear Fouquet wanted to steal something from the academy, and as a student and citizen of Tristain, she was under obligation to stop the thief. But she couldn't even cast magic properly, what chance did she have against a notorious triangle mage? What would mother do? Well, that was a bit of a silly question, her mother would have walked out and flattened Fouquet and strung her up into a neat package for the authorities. It was best, Louise decided after a bit of hesitation, to alert a professor and inform them of the break in. Certainly she would be punished for being out alone, after curfew, but it was the right thing to do. And so, she carefully crept from behind the tree hoping that Fouquet would not notice. There was no way Fouquet could pay attention to her surroundings, not when she was simultaneously casting the spells to sustain and regenerate her golem whilst commanding it to attack. Right? Sadly, even in the dim moonlight of the twin moons, her pink hair drew too much attention. She had to abandon any pretense of sneaking when the golem suddenly broke off his movement and whirled toward her location. She burst into a sprint, but had to abort when an earthen wall rose up from the ground and blocked her pathway. Another spell? Louise felt dread. Fouquet could easily be the strongest mage she had ever met, bar her mother, of course.

"Tsk tsk. Out after curfew? Naughty naughty." The voice sounded muffled, but the words were clear. "Naughty students ought to be punished. Golem, smash!"

Louise gulped hard and drew her wand. There was nowhere to run, which meant she had to fight. The menacing form of the earthen golem sent a shiver of fear down her spine. If that fist struck her she would be reduced to a smear, and for the life of her, Louise did not know what to do.

"Firebolt!" She screeched, her voice shrill and high from panic and fear. Sadly for her, Louise missed her target, which was the golem's head, by a wide margin. Perhaps it was the jitters from her nerves. Whatever the case, the ensuing explosion missed the colossal golem and impacted the tower.

Fouquet's golem paused mid stride. "Did you just miss a target the size of a small mountain?" Her voice was incredulous and filled with disbelief. Louise flushed in embarrassment.

Then Fouquet caught sight of the gaping hole in the tower and frowned inside her golem. She had expected the defenses to hold for at least another dozen strikes or so, but apparently a fireball, a failed one at that, had been sufficient to blow a hole in the treasury tower. Had she really inflicted so much damage already?

"I would normally kill you, as I don't like leaving witnesses in general, but since you are so pathetic, I think I'll let you live. I have honestly never seen anything as worthless as you." And Fouquet truly meant it. It was, in her eyes, a travesty to harm someone as pathetic as the pinkette in front of her. So saying, Fouquet turned her golem around and proceeded to enter the treasury room through the hole Louise had blasted and shortly thereafter disappeared into the surrounding darkness. The massive golem crumbled and dissolved into the earth, leaving no trace that anything had occurred.

Louise knelt there in the dirt, too numb to move. She had been pitied by an opponent who didn't even think she was worth killing. It was one thing to be hurt by words, but when the time came, when she had needed to be more than what others said she was, Louise had failed in every way that mattered. "I am pathetic." She said softly, and felt silent tears flow down her cheeks.

She entered her room and plopped onto her bed, uncaring of her dirty dress, uncaring of the entire world. She was useless. Fouquet was right, she was worthless. Her wealth wasn't hers. Her magic didn't exist. She was frail and ugly and too short, without any sexual appeal. She could do nothing. What was the difference between her and the servant girl who pitied her? Rightfully so too. Louise burst into sobs.

Her reflection in the mirror frowned. Slowly, the Louise inside the glass reached outward and the mirror gave a sudden and violent ripple. The reflection gazed solemnly at the still crying figure atop the bed and bared her teeth fiercely.

Louise was abnormally silent and withdrawn the week after, but no one knew her well enough to notice. So when the new teacher, a Professor Chevreuse, runic name the Red Earth, asked her to demonstrate a simple transmutation of earth to bronze in class on the fifth day, Louise blew up the entire classroom. Then she left, without bothering to wait for the teacher's dismissal.

"How vulgar." She muttered angrily under her breath. "It's always the same thing over and over again. I can't even do a dot spell properly." She was by herself in her room, curled into a despondent ball of misery with her knees tucked in under her chest. Louise could no longer return to her courtyard, not since Fouquet called her pathetic and spared her life out of pity. It was like a shadow looming behind her back, and whenever Louise caught a glimpse of her previous haven, she would hear the muffled voice of Fouquet taunting her, calling her worthless and the overwhelming fear she had felt that night.

She felt the power flowing through her, so much power that she could barely contain it all inside her, she felt like a god walking amongst mortals. Anything she desired, she could make real. In her hands, the elements responded to her will with an ease that bespoke of absolute mastery. All of them, fire, wind, earth and water, even the fabled void bent to her desires like loving puppies eager for affection. Fouquet's broken body lay bleeding in front of her, her earthen golem shattered into a million pieces behind her. Around them, the other students looked on in awe and reverence and respect. Everyone's eyes were on her, and once again she was the center of the attention, only this time it wasn't because she had failed. No, this was the acknowledgement she desired. Louise walked, no, she strode forward, gliding across the clearing with open confidence and laughed. It was a clear and gleeful and childish laugh, and even though it was undoubtedly her voice, Louise did not recognize her laughter. It was so free and weightless, unforced, like the chime of a bell on a clear day. Fouquet twitched on the ground, gasping for breath, one of her eyes shut tightly in pain, while the other begged her for mercy. Louise felt a smile stretch across her lips and she felt ecstasy flood her veins. She was high on her own power. 'No.' She purred the syllable, feeling so good to be able to hold in her hands the fate of another, one who had once scorned her. Distantly, a small voice told her this was wrong, but Louise ignored it. Finally, the world was as it should be and nothing would distract her from meting out divine punishment against all those who had wronged her. She felt a surge of pleasure and power as Fouquet's face plunged into despair, the very same despair she had once tasted and felt. She raised her hand, bereft of a wand, but somehow the elements answered and ...

Louise woke up. For a second, she had been so sure that the dream was real, but now it was leaking from her mind like water through a sieve. She clutched at it, feeling slightly guilty, but it was too hard and in the end, she was left with a muted sense of having power and feeling good. She remembered the magic, but could not recall any details. Sighing, she glanced sadly at her reflection in the mirror. "It was only a dream. It could only ever be that." As she dressed herself, wondering what was the point of it all, she missed that her reflection was not copying her movements. Instead for the briefest of moments, the Louise in the mirror stared intently at her counterpart with sharp, penetrating eyes. There was a hunger in them, a fierce and all-consuming hunger. Then, as Louise turned to examine herself, twirling in a small circle and letting her beautiful dress billow behind her, the moment passed and the reflection was once again just another ordinary reflection.

"I would like to see my daughter, Osmond." The sharp clipped tones of a woman who was used to getting her way resonated in the quaint little office of the headmaster of Tristain's Academy of Magic.

"Of course, Karin. I would only ask that you show some prudence and foresight. Louise de la Valliere has had a difficult time adjusting." Old Osmond replied, stroking his long white beard with one hand, while gently patting his familiar with his other hand.

Karin the Heavy Wind narrowed her eyes. "Louise is my daughter, my responsibility. I will do with her as I see fit." It was a warning as much as a statement.

The aged headmaster nodded. "As you wish." Karin left without another word, and Osmond sighed.

"It's alright Chuchu, you needn't be so scared. She is gone." The small white mouse cautiously uncurled and poked his head out. Then he chittered in obvious relief when he saw only Osmond in the room. "I do wonder what color panties she had on," Osmond said aloud into the empty office. "If I had to bet, I would say black. What do you think?"

The mouse shuddered and gave a curt squeak. "Yes, yes. We remember what happened last time you tried to take a peek. I'm not going to be making that mistake anytime soon." Osmond nodded sagely to himself. "Karin was always so uptight. It's a wonder she has three children." Then he winced and looked around worriedly. "Don't tell her I said that." His expression turned solemn when only silence answered him. "I wish there was something we could do to help little Louise, but alas, I am at a loss." He sighed again and Chuchu darted from his hand as Matilda, his assistant, knocked on the door. "Come in." He croaked, instantly sinking into his chair and pretending he was nothing but a wizened old mage.

"Sir," The green haired mage entered the room, her arms laden with paperwork. "These are the forms you need to sign."

"Hm. Hohoho." Osmond chuckled, a light blush flaring on his cheeks. "Purple suits you very well."

Matilda looked at him in confusion at first, then her cheeks reddened as she caught sight of the white mouse scrambling around her feet.

Professor Colbert, who was taking his daily walk beneath the headmaster's tower, heard a shrill shriek followed by a resounding slap and chuckled softly to himself. Then he caught sight of Karin the Heavy Wind, and his laughter turned into a coughing fit as he choked on air. By the time he recovered, the duchess of the Valliere family had already disappeared. "Oh dear." He muttered and adjusted his glasses nervously. "This can't be good."


	2. Chapter 2 Control

**Alright, we'll go with a more complex route, please disregard any previous indications that Louise's familiar is evil.**

Louise was lying on the bed when she heard the knock sound on her rosewood front door. Two sharp taps, unlike the normal timid knocks from a maidservant. Curious who would be at her front door at this hour, she moved hesitantly to open the door. As the wooden barrier swung past her, Louise caught sight of her guest and she froze in shock.

"M-mother?" She stuttered. "What are you doing here?" Louise automatically moved to the side to give her mother a wide berth as the older pinkette strode into her daughter's private chambers.

"I think we both know the reason for my being here." Her mother's voice was clipped and sharp, exactly like Louise dreaded it to be. She fidgeted under her mother's intense stare and suppressed a shiver, whether due to shame or fear, or both, Louise wasn't entirely sure. Her mother paused in the middle of her scrutiny as her eyes caught sight of the fancy mirror beside Louise's bed. "So the tales were true then, you failed the summoning ritual."

It was the way Karin said it that hurt Louise the most. So matter of factly, as if Louise was prone to disappointing her all the time, which was true, but it did not lessen the pain any. Louise opened her mouth to give an explanation, an excuse, anything that would make things better, but Karin cut her off by raising her hand. "Your professors tell me you cannot perform magic at all in class." There was a question there, but Louise only bowed her head, unable and unwilling to admit her failures. The smaller pinkette felt tears prickle in her eyes, but fought them down, knowing her mother would only regard it as another sign of weakness.

"Very well." Karin said, after a moment's pause. "I've decided. You will come home with me, tonight." Louise looked up, horrified and stunned by the declaration. "As for your familiar, discard it. A mirror such as this serves no other purpose than to pander to its owner's vanity. You will have no need for such things." Louise did not know which hurt more, her mother's casual daggers disguised in the form of words, or the sudden loss of her familiar. It was hard to say how or when or why, but the mirror had become her only companion at the school. Sure, it was silly to talk to an inanimate object, but Louise had held out hope at first that maybe it wasn't just a simple mirror. Then, as she came to realize it was nothing more than what it appeared, she had decided it didn't matter. The mirror was proof that even though she was a failure, she could cast magic. The ritual hadn't failed, per se. But that distinction was lost to her mother, who only saw a reminder of her daughter's failure.

As Karin stood there, every bit as regal as a noble should be, waiting for her daughter's reaction, Louise felt the room around her begin to spin. She felt the strength drain from her legs, and nearly stumbled, but caught herself at the last moment. There was a movement in the corner of her eye, a sudden chill in the air as a cool breeze wafted past her neckline. But the windows were closed, Louise thought to herself, bewildered. 'Let me take care of it.' Someone whispered. 'Just relax. Everything. Will. Be. Alright.' Louise felt a comforting darkness smother her, and the last thing she recalled before falling into sleep was that the whispering voice was exactly like her own.

To the outside, Louise appeared only to have stumbled, perhaps shaken by the news. Then she stood again, and bowed her head demurely. "I understand, mother." She said shamefully, still staring at the ground, the perfect image of a reticent child.

Karin Desiree nee Maillert de la Valliere stiffened and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you." It was not a question, more a demand than anything. Louise looked up, her expression confused.

"Mother?" She asked, her voice and expression perfect. Karin closed her eyes and suddenly it was hard to breathe in the room, the air too thin, like they were standing atop the highest mountain in all of Tristain.

"Do not think you can fool me just because you speak and look like my daughter." For the first time since she came into her daughter's room, Karin's expression changed. There was a ferocity in it now, a terrifying anger and rage.

Louise held on to her half puzzled and half fearful expression for another second or so, and then dropped it. As she smiled, a smile too sharp and too menacing to belong on the small pinkette's face, Louise spoke.

"I see now why she fears you so." Her voice was pitched a little higher than Louise's normal voice. The pace was off too, slow and languorous around the r's, like honey and spice. The little girl danced over to the mirror and lovingly caressed it with one hand. It set off alarm bells in Karin's mind, her actions resembled that of a newborn child, curious and enthusiastic, void of deception and deceit.

Karin did not speak for a moment. "What have you done with my daughter?" She asked at last, and Louise broke into a soft giggle.

"Nothing silly, she's safe with me." Louise clasped a hand to her heart and smiled softly. "I won't let anything hurt her, because she's all mine." The pinkette stretched the last word, perverting the word. Her expression of ecstasy was, in Karin's mind, disturbing to say the least. The older pinkette felt ice trickle down her spine and suppressed her natural instinct to lash out. Force was possibly the last option she wanted to use.

It was as if her greatest and worst fear was happening. It was one thing to kidnap and abduct, another to possess. The former was easily enough to deal with, but the latter was dangerous. The risk to the possessed was too high, and more often than not, the only way to free them someone from possession was death. "What do you want?" Karin steeled her heart and mind in preparation.

Louise tilted her head to the side and tapped a finger to her cheeks playfully. The small girl closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, there was something not human reflected back in those glowing pupils. "Everything Louise desires is my desire." The thing disguised as her daughter frowned. "I don't know what to do," then she brightened up and giggled again. "But I do know what I'm going to do first!" Louise pouted and clasped her hands behind her back, the perfect picture of an innocent child. "I'm going to find this Fouquet and rip her apart limb by limb! It's going to be so fun. She was so mean to Louise."

Toward the end, the pinkette looked murderous and hateful, an expression that distorted her daughter's face in a way Karin hoped would never happen. But it was the way she said it that convinced Karin the creature or whatever it was, spirit perhaps, meant every word. This was no empty boast, no, this was a statement, and nothing in the word was going to stop her from doing it. 'Dangerous.' Karin thought to herself, and steeled her heart in preparation. Then a thought struck her as she watched Louise lean against the mirror adoringly, almost lovingly.

"Did… did Louise summon you?" A ray of hope, a glimmer of a possibility for a better outcome.

Louise looked up from where she had been examining the outer edges of the ornate mirror, slowly lowering her hands and folding them in front of her. She looked conflicted for a second, and Karin wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. At last, after a long moment's consideration, Louise shrugged. "I suppose."

Karin continued to press for an answer. "Are you a spirit? Did you come from the mirror?"

Louise giggled at the word spirit, and Karin felt her temper flare. This creature was using her daughter's body and it had the gall to mock her? "If you do not release your grip on my daughter, I will destroy your mirror and you along with it."

For the first time in their conversation, the being became wary. "You can certainly try." The words were spoken solemnly, without fear, and the younger pinkette's eyes seemed to bore straight through Karin. "Louise does not want your death, so I cannot kill you. But I will not allow you to interfere and take away from me." Slowly, she raised her left hand, and a small red orb flickered into existence above her hand.

As Karin stared at the orb, a little non-plussed, the air around them changed ever so slightly. Without an incantation, nor any movement to give away her intent, Louise, or rather the creature possessing her, conjured a roaring dragon made entirely of flames. It rushed at her and coiled itself around the older pinkette, thick, fiery chains that bound her in a firestorm. The blistering heat licked at her skin, but Karin had already reacted the moment the flaming dragon appeared. An orb of condensed air exploded outwards, going to further than a few inches, and ripped the flames apart, denying them any oxygen to burn. The exchange lasted no more than a second, two square level spells in less time it took to blink, and the only thing to show for it was a scorched floor planks and ceiling.

The younger girl pouted, completely unfazed by Karin's spell. Before she could attempt to trap the older mage, Karin raised a hand. "Wait." Louise lowered her hand, curious. Karin continued. "I want to speak to my daughter." She caught sight of the frown on Louise's face and quickly added. "In exchange, I will not harm you, her familiar. I will let her judge for herself what to do."

Louise, or the being possessing her, clearly did not like that idea. As evidenced by the pout on her face. "But she's mine." Louise whined, her tones plaintive and unhappy. Karin thought it was reminiscent of asking a child to give up their favorite toy. Albeit a child capable of throwing a tantrum using square level fire magics.

"And you are hers." Karin replied, hoping as much as she dared that what she said was the truth. Luckily for her, it seemed to do the trick, as Louise folded her hands and sulked.

"Fine. But I won't let you take her away from me. I won't." Karin gave a curt nod and waited with bated breath as Louise closed her eyes.

Louise was standing in the middle of a bed of flowers, a soft grassy clearing that reminded her of her safe haven, albeit more beautiful and warm. She couldn't see the sky, nor the light source that shone above her, but she didn't really care to look anyways. Around her, insects hummed and thrived, even as a small thrush chirped cheerily from atop a massive oak tree, so wide that she could hold out her hands from one side to another and not touch the ends. The grass tickled her feet and Louise fought the urge to giggle as she took a step, and then another, across the flowers. It was peaceful here, but something was missing. Something important. It skirted the edges of her memory, like a word suddenly forgotten, dancing on the edge of her tongue, caressing her mind as a gentle breeze would her dress. "How did I get here?" Louise found herself asking. She strained to remember, but there was a hole where her memories was, a black hole that sucked everything in but gave nothing out. She had been talking with her mother… about leaving… and then she had collapsed into oblivion. Wait. Someone had said something before she fainted. A voice. Her voice.

"That was me." The sudden sound surprised her so much that Louise gave an undignified squeak of terror. Then she clasped her hands over her mouth and turned, glaring at whoever had the gall to sneak up on her.

But as she caught sight of what was behind her, her anger was replaced by shock and wonder. It was her, and it was not her. It was the Louise of her dreams, the Louise who she wanted to be, powerful and regal, worthy of her name and worthy of her blood. It was the eyes that Louise recognized, for while hers was a deep pink, the Louise of her dreams always had gleaming violet eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked, feeling suddenly shy and uncertain. Was this another dream? But usually she saw through the other Louise's eyes, she was abruptly shaken from her thoughts when the other pink haired girl grabbed her hand with both of hers and dragged her away, giggling and laughing all the while. Despite the bizarre situation, Louise felt a carefree laugh spring free from her chest as they half ran, half stumbled across the grassy clearing.

"Wait," she gasped, panting for breath. "Where are you taking me?" She managed to get all the syllables out.

The Louise in front of her turned and winked. And so they ran. Until suddenly, there was a door in front of her. A door in the middle of a grassy clearing, unsupported by anything, simply there, unbound by any rule of physics. Louise looked at it in amazement, noting that there was nothing behind it, and turned to her guide. "This is impossible." She said, and then laughed at the silliness of it all. Everything here was impossible. "Who are you?"

She asked again. The other Louise still did not answer. Instead, she gently took the pinkette's face into her petite hands and drew Louise closer. Spluttering, Louise barely had time to utter an aborted eek when the violet eyed girl pressed her lips to hers in a soft, chaste kiss. "You're mine." She whispered and then Louise found herself back in her room, her mother's familiar stern visage greeting her, only this time there was an odd expression on her face Louise did not recognize. Then the world exploded into excruciating agony and she screamed, and screamed and screamed as the pain overwhelmed her senses. Darkness consumed her, and Louise passed out in a dead faint.

Karin saw a flicker of recognition when Louise's eyes opened once again, and recognized on her face the ever familiar confused expression her daughter would always make when things did not make sense. But before she could say anything, to ask if this really was her Louise, the pinkette opened her mouth and screamed. It was a terrible scream, sudden and filled with pain. The Heavy Wind felt her heart skip a beat and rushed forward, just in time to catch her daughter as she fainted. She could do nothing but watch, helplessly, as a runic symbol burned itself into her daughter's forehead. An otherwise perfect circle, had it not been two cuts, one near the apex of the circle and one near the bottom.

Osmond sighed, and kneaded his brows, wondering why life was the way it was. Karin, of course, offered no apology for the complications, not that the wizened headmaster expected, nor desired one. The healer was naturally terrified, and Old Osmond did not blame him. When Karin was pissed, she made no effort to conceal her ire and more often than not, some poor sap would be on the receiving end of her fury. And when you added her daughter into the mix, well, it didn't bode well for any of the parties involved. Still, Osmond was reasonably sure Karin wouldn't hurt him. It was hard to say for sure when Karin was that worked up. He caught sight of the runic circle and hummed softly to himself, trying to remember where he had seen that symbol before. He was sure he had seen it once, but when and where? Such a beautiful rune, he thought to himself, but what did it signify?

The blonde healer fled the moment he was dismissed, with a speed that was almost comical to watch. Karin strode past Osmond and seated herself a little ways from the bed on which Louise de la Valliere lay, unconscious.

"Forgive me, my friend." Osmond began, but Karin snorted in a most uncharacteristic manner, cutting him short.

"Spare me the long winded version. Do you recognize the rune? I believe her familiar had something to do with that." Karin did not look away from her daughter's sleeping form.

Osmond's beard quivered as he pondered the question. "Vaguely. I cannot recall the specifics, but I am almost certain I have seen the design before. You mentioned her familiar?"

The older pinkette finally glanced away and Osmond felt his blood chill slightly at the venomous look she gave him. Luckily, her anger was not directed at him. "The mirror was no simple mirror. Something was inside it, or possessing it, and took the opportunity to possess my Louise."

Osmond gave a small start in surprise, his brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to summon a memory. "A mirror, a possession and that rune. Something comes to mind." Karin waited, knowing Old Osmond would eventually fess up the details, and when he was in one of those thinks, nothing could rush him into revealing the information faster. It was usually best to let him talk at his own pace.

"Long ago, it was said, in the time of Brimir, there existed a clan of spirits who possessed a deep understanding of the magics of the world. It was from this clan that Brimir gained the knowledge of how to wield the five Great Pentagon Powers. The spirits of that clan was well known for their ability to commune with the elemental spirits that exist in our realm. Their insignia was the Ouroboros, for they were undying and immortal, and it is said they lived side by side with the elves. Then came the great war, and magic was dealt a great blow as many of the greater spirits perished. It is said, that along with the elves, these elusive spirits went extinct during the war. They were called the Symes." Old Osmond fell silent and frowned. "The rune on her forehead appears similar to their mark, but it is not entirely the same. There is a part missing, the head and the tail of the snake, to be exact."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean."

Old Osmond looked back at her gravely. "I do not know. But if it truly was a possession, then the question is, who is the dominant personality between the Syme, and your daughter, Louise. Or perhaps the ritual is simply incomplete. Professor Colbert told me that your daughter never finished the second half of the familiar ritual, having assumed the mirror to be no more than what it appeared."

The only conscious member of the Valliere family snorted. "In other words, this is all a guess."

Old Osmond smiled wearily and nodded. "It could mean bad or it could mean nothing at all. Perhaps it is best to not interfere and let it run its course. Louise is a strong girl, I think she will surprise us yet."

Karin gave him a flat stare, and Osmond chuckled to himself.

Kirche gave a dismissive snort as she heard the latest rumor float by. "Ha. There is no way Karin the Heavy Wind injured Louise the Zero. That's just silly. It must have been someone else." A sudden thought struck her and she gasped aloud. Tabitha, the only other person at the table listening to her, nodded absentmindedly, too engrossed in her book to really pay attention to the fiery redhead's theories. "Maybe it was Fouquet," Kirche continued enthusiastically. "And then Karin the Heavy Wind dueled Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt and drove her away, but in the ensuing fight, Louise was knocked unconscious!" The blue haired mage patted Kirche on the head solemnly, and the redhead took that as agreement.

"Truly it must have been a duel of epic proportions." Her eyes twinkled as she thought about the fight between one of the most notorious thief in the realm and the mage rumored to be the greatest in the realm. Then she sighed and buried her head into her folded arms. "I'm just being silly, there's no way that happened." Tabitha nodded again, this time in actual agreement. Kirche peeked up mournfully and gave another sigh. "Now who do I tease? Louise was so easy to rile up and her reactions were the best!" Her companion rolled her eyes, but disguised it by adjusting her glasses. Kirche could be so silly sometimes.

There was someone humming, Louise groggily thought to herself. She was lying, face down in a soft bed of grass, and there was a stray strand tickling her nose. She abruptly sat up and sneezed. From behind her, someone or something gave a startled squeak. Whirling, Louise caught sight of herself.

"You!" She shouted, pointing an accusing finger at what was a carbon copy of her, with the sole exception of violet eyes. "You…" Her words petered out as the memories came back to her. "You took my … first… kiss..." She spluttered, blushing furiously. Her dream self only blinked in reply. "Am I dreaming again?" Louise wondered aloud, looking around and seeing the familiar clearing where … it… had happened. "But the pain, and mother…" She trailed off, confused and uncertain. At the word mother, the other Louise stood suddenly, and reached out to grab her hand. Caught off guard, the pink eyed Valliere did not react in time and was wrenched forward into a tight embrace.

"Mine." The girl clutching Louise hissed. And despite the bizarreness of the situation, Louise felt utterly safe and content. After several moments passed, Louise eventually came to the conclusion that her clone had no intention of letting go. She struggled free, feeling only faintly crestfallen that the embrace lasted so short. "Who are you?" She asked at last, when she was face to face with her dream self.

The other Louise shrugged, seemingly indifferent to her own identity. The original Valliere frowned, confused and worried. "Is this a dream?"

"No." The other Louise's voice was almost identical, but there was a soft lilt behind her syllables, and Louise did not recognize the accent. "This isn't a dream."

"Then where are we?" Louise asked, her curiosity piqued. "Why do I feel so safe and happy?" And even as she said it, she knew it to be the truth. It was a feeling similar to coming home after a long journey, an intimate understanding that there was no safer place in all of Halkeginia. Except, Louise had never been here before.

The other pinkette slowly raised a hand and pointed at Louise's head. "Inside." For a second, Louise felt confused and almost turned her head, thinking that there was something behind her. Then understanding kicked in. "My head?" It was half an exclamation, half a question.

The violet eyed clone nodded solemnly. "Inside your mind." She confirmed. Louise felt a million different question pop into her head, but discarded them all for the most important one.

"Why am I here?" She asked, trying to remember how she got here. The other Louise pouted and crossed her hands across her chest. "Your mother threatened to take me away from you. I won't let that happen." At first, Louise was confused, her mother had come to take her home, was this another student? But that was impossible, wasn't it?

"Are you another student?" She blurted out, at last, almost certain that was the only possibility. Her clone looked stunned for a second, then shook her head, giggling. "Where did you come from then?" Louise asked, more than a little frustrated at this point.

"You summoned me, silly." For a second, Louise felt her heart stop. Could it be? "Are you my familiar?" She asked, hope flaring to life in her chest like the soft fluttering wings of a dove.

The clone nodded, and Louise wondered if this new sensation she felt in her chest was pride. "What … what are you?" Louise was a little disappointed when her familiar shrugged again, but quickly discarded it. She hadn't failed the ritual, even if she wasn't entirely sure what she had summoned. Then a thought struck her.

"Wasn't I… with mother?" She asked, a slow creeping sensation of dread beginning to pool in her stomach. Her familiar nodded cheerfully in confirmation. "And… and…" the memories hit and she felt herself feeling oddly faint. "You attacked mother… oh dear." Later, she would remark how odd it felt to view things from inside her own body, unable to control her actions and words and thoughts.

The violet eyed Louise narrowed her eyes and sniffed imperiously. "She was trying to take you away from me, and I won't let that happen."

Louise was uncertain how she felt at the moment. The gamut of emotions spiking inside her chest was difficult to unravel. Shock was definitely there, amazement at having cast a spell properly, never mind it was extremely high-leveled, fear at having dared raise her hand against her mother, relief her mother hadn't done anything in retaliation, envy that her familiar could use such magics and … and Louise was almost certain she would have fainted if this hadn't taken place in her mind.

"Why did you kiss me?" Louise asked after a while, only to realize that her familiar had crept up behind her and was busy braiding her pink hair. She was also humming the strange yet oddly nostalgic song.

When her familiar spoke, there was something fierce in her voice, and it sent a shiver down her spine, a spine-tingling shiver that wasn't due to fear. Louise did not recognize the feeling. "So that you will be mine, forever and ever."

"But…" she spluttered awkwardly, uncertain what to say. Small wonder, since Louise wasn't even sure what she was feeling.

Her familiar suddenly froze, and when she spoke again, there was a small tremble in her voice. "Did… did you not want to be with me forever and ever?" She asked shyly.

Louise didn't answer immediately. The pinkette could feel the tension in the air, and she didn't need to look to know that her familiar was as tense as a tightly strung bow string. As she thought about how to answer such a strange yet important question, a sudden memory came to her.

She was clutching her wand, eyes squeezed shut, a soft blue glow around her. The mocking laughter of her peers had faded, and for once seemed too far away to bother her any more. There was only her, the world and the ritual. "I, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, following my fate, do summon a familiar. Together we will forge our destinies as one, oh beautiful, divine and powerful servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, heed my call and obey my will!" Those words had been more than just a recitation. They had been a promise and a request. And suddenly, Louise knew what her answer was, because it didn't matter that she did not know who or what her familiar was, all that mattered was that their bond was meant to be. Their paths, united as one, and together they would shatter any obstacles in their way.

Louise turned, catching sight of her familiar's nervous expression, her nervous expression, only instead of pink, it was lavender eyes that brimmed with unshed tears. Who was the mirror of whom? She took a deep breath and spoke, her voice trembling audibly. "In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, declare this being to be my familiar, forever and ever." As she said the words, she slowly cupped her hands on her familiar's face, in an exact mirror of what had happened earlier. Her confidence grew with each word, until they echoed in the soft clearing, a promise, a vow. "Oh pentagon of the five elemental powers, grant us thy blessing." And with that she laid a soft kiss against her stunned familiar's lips.

This time, there was no pain, and as Louise felt her consciousness drift away, the last sight she saw was that of her familiar's serene visage and the small circle glowing on her forehead.

 **So once again I'm deliberating. Should Louise's familiar be a separate entity who happens to cohabit her body, or more an amalgamation of her hidden desires and fears? In the former, Louise would have to learn to deal with an inner voice; the latter, no voice, but she would feel intense urges from time to time and in general the plotline would change a little. In the first, she'll try to find the origin and nature of her familiar, the second she'll try and come to terms with her hidden and suppressed self.**

 **P.S. I think I kinda forced myself into the first route, what with the whole second half of the familiar ritual, but hey, I'm willing to bend some rules. :)**


	3. Chapter 3 Direction

**I have gone back and re-edited chapter one, in order to remove any discrepancies from choosing the second path.**

 **As you can surmise, my original intention was to have Louise develop a secondary psychopathic personality unhindered by any inhibitions or moral compass. The trigger for the swap would be, of course, whenever Louise is put under emotional or physical stress. But, this way is fun too. Her familiar is a separate entity, of sorts. Don't worry, I am being purposefully vague. *wink***

 **Thank you for the reviews, it was wonderful to receive so many messages! On that note:**

 **To Xbox432, I too, would have liked to see Louise baptize her rebirth by painting the fields a brilliant red. Sadly, although this is no longer feasible, perhaps there will be a situation where such a thing could occur. I vaguely remember something in Siesta's storyline. *hint hint***

 **To Devilsama666, by the fact that you reviewed, I think you disprove your theory of being a lazyass. I am glad you enjoyed the story so far and hope it will continue until the end.**

 **To GreatSnapper, I completely agree. Saito was indeed one of the characters that displeased me most about the series. He did redeem himself in the end, somewhat at least, so there is that. Concerning the story, either path would have been enjoyable for me to write, as I don't think they intrude too much on the storyline, only certain segments. By the way, I was going to do exactly what you said for other path, thanks for spoiling it! Just kidding, but really you were on the dot.**

 **To Midweekcomic13, indeed, most like path two, me included. I was actually going to choose route two even if you guys had voted the other way. Really. Believe meh!**

 **To Voidwalker23, your vote has been accepted.**

 **To DGKSilver, alas, the reason why I did not choose path one was because ultimately, it would have been a rather destructive ending. Also, writing through the mind of someone as fragmented as !psychoticLouise would have been a challenge. One I still relish, but do not desire at the moment.**

 **To Nightmare Nursery, glad you think so!**

 **To DiReWoLF27, the capital letters in your name made my eyes go spinny! I too think the second path leaves me with a lot more room to jiggle around with. I am very happy you enjoyed the story.**

 **To Coronadomontes, is that the 'good' kind of interesting, or the 'bad' kind of interesting?**

 **To Zpeder, indeed. Both paths are rich with potential, but I settled for path two because I think it fits best. Don't worry though, Louise's familiar does not have the same moral compass as her. As will soon be evidenced. Huehuehue.**

 **To Navatr1x, I settled for a compromise, then cheated by going back and editing chapter one. It was my only option! I hope you will continue to enjoy the story.**

When Louise opened her eyes, she was greeted with the familiar sight of the infirmary's wooden ceiling. Moving slowly and languidly like a cat, she stretched out with her entire body, tensing each and every muscle before letting go and relaxing with a soft sigh of contentment. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her familiar too gave a soft exclamation of satisfaction. Louise blinked, frowning in slight consternation. Since when could she feel a presence inside of her? She tried to concentrate inward, seeking the pulsing warmth of her familiar's presence, but her awareness quickly faded. It was like trying to remember a dream or cupping water in her hands, the details trickling away despite her best efforts. Only a soft sensation fluttering inside her like a restless bird, its touch feather-light, and the occasional echo of her emotions reassured her that it had not all been a dream, and that for the first time since she could ever remember, Louise had succeeded in casting a spell.

Distracted by her musings, Louise missed her mother coming into the room. In her defence, her mother had a very light footstep. She was jolted out of her attempts at finding her familiar when her mother cleared her throat. Louise may have made a small exclamation of surprise at that. To Louise's mortification, the sound that came out was a cross between a meep and a squeak, a sound so utterly adorable that it elicited a small smile on her mother's normally stern visage.

Karin pretended not to notice, although it was clearly too late for that, making no remark on her daughter's blushing form. "How are you feeling?" She asked instead, the small smile slowly fading as she cast a critical eye over her youngest child. At a cursory glance, Louise de la Valliere was as fit and healthy as a young girl her age could be. Although the former was debatable, in her opinion.

Louise didn't take long to answer. "I feel great, mother." And it was true. She did feel great, energized even, ready to take on the whole world.

"Do you remember what happened?" Karin asked cautiously.

The younger pinkette nodded, a little hesitantly. "I do. I remember my familiar, she took over my body?" It came out more a question than an answer.

"Indeed." Karin pursed her lips, frowning slightly. Perhaps it was wishful of her, but the older pinkette almost wished Louise had not remembered. "Can you summon your familiar? I wish to speak with her."

Louise blinked, confused. "I…" Her eyes became unfocused as her familiar's presence suddenly flared inside her, and where the feeling of a small round ball of energy had been, a blazing sun appeared, its presence so overwhelming that Louise completely lost track of her surroundings. Unbeknownst to the smaller Valliere, the rune on her forehead began to shine with a soft brilliance that eclipsed the natural sunlight filtering through the half closed curtains on the nearby window.

'Familiar?' Louise asked tentatively inside her mind, wondering if her familiar could even hear her. 'Can you um, come out?' The younger pinkette wasn't sure what she was asking, but her desire seemed to have been conveyed perfectly, for, in the next second, an echoing voice resounded in her mind. "Only if you let me." It was her own voice, but a shade huskier, and Louise did not know how she felt about that. Before she could examine the feeling fully, the world inverted itself, and suddenly Louise saw through her familiar's eyes. No, her eyes, but not hers. It was confusing to say the least, for the pinkette found herself completely unable to move. The world around her seemed to be clearer and sharper, but strange and yet familiar. It was like putting on a pair of glasses, or was it like taking them off? Louise was lost in the strange sensations for a second, then her eyes caught sight of her mother. For a second, it was like staring into the sun and Louise lost the ability to breathe. Then the moment passed, and when she gazed on her mother again, she found the light's intensity had faded into a more muted form.

"What did you do to my daughter?" Karin's glare and intonation made clear it wasn't a question. Louise would have been petrified, both by the realization that her mother was glaring at her and by the fact that she could see her mother's full and unreserved might.

Her familiar didn't even flinch, and when she spoke her voice was as cool as ice. "We made a pact, she and I, as master and familiar. Now we belong to each other, forever and ever. There is nothing you can do." Her voice ended proud and strong and smug, and Louise wondered if her familiar was suicidal. Did she not see what Louise saw? The colossal wealth of magic that dwarfed even the brightest of stars on a cloudless sky? Then pinkette felt her familiar's disdain and anger at her mother, and she shivered at the sensation. She was caught between the heat of a blazing furnace and the chill of an arctic breeze. Would that she had control of her body and she was certain she would have fainted. Meanwhile, the two of them stared at each other, her mother's eyes narrowed in an angry slit and her familiar looking haughtily back, triumph and satisfaction radiating from every pore. A confrontation was nigh impossible to prevent and Louise whimpered softly.

"I know what you are, Syme. And I will tear you from my daughter, by force if I must." Louise felt her familiar's emotion flicker, confusion, fear, anger, mixing together before settling on anger.

"I won't let you." The words were spat out, and behind them crystallized a single intent, a single minded thought that Louise instantly detected. She was acutely aware of the magic flaring from deep below her stomach and time slowed to a crawl as her previous fear intensified a hundredfold.

She could not let this continue. Her familiar had decided on a very aggressive negotiation tactic, one Louise was not prepared to agree to under any circumstance. And even though she quailed at having to face her furious mother, she knew she had to cut in before things escalated out of control. Instinctively she wrenched hard, and the world spun and faded she broke her connection with her familiar. The soft anger faded and all of a sudden Louise was face to face with the furious visage of her mother. She swallowed, hard, and gave a weak whimper. In the back of her mind, her familiar's rage continued to burn and simmer.

"Mother, please." Karin's fury dissipated at her daughter's plea, realizing quickly that her daughter was back. "She's my familiar, and I won't leave her. I summoned her, and she's mine, as much as I am her." As she said the words, she felt the truth behind them reverberate inside her mind. The younger pinkette focused on the sensation and drew strength from the feeling. She grew emboldened and felt herself sit up a little on the comfortable bed.

"She is too dangerous…" Her mother started to say, but Louise cut in, dimly aware that she was doing something no one had ever dared to do to her mother. But whether it was the sensation of absolute adoration coming from her familiar or her own desire to hold onto the only piece of magic she had ever accomplished, Louise plowed on with an inner strength she did not know she possessed.

"Mother, my familiar is my responsibility. By the rules of steel, she is under my care and my protection. I won't let you nor anyone else have her." She started with a wavering voice, but by the end she was flushed with conviction at the truth of her words.

For a second, a flicker of a moment so brief that Karin later dismissed it ever happening, she failed to recognize her own daughter in that moment. Then, as she gazed on the blushing and slightly worried expression on her youngest child's open and honest face, Karin felt a strange sensation well inside of her. It was much like pride, and yet not. A sibling of pride, perhaps. She was unable, however, to identify it.

As she gazed at her daughter's guileless face, so innocent and bereft of hardship, she was stirred by the nostalgia that struck her in that moment. Karin too, had been at one time, as youthful and naive as Louise. But she had quickly learned that the world was a cruel and harsh place, and no matter what station you held in life, only one constant held true. Power. Without it, one was a prisoner to the whims of others. And no, she didn't mean the physical or magical prowess and skill that so many held as important, although that too was an inevitability when you beheld true power. No, the force that Karin believed most important sprang forth from the conviction of an individual. But it was also more than that, it was the crystallization of their desires and willpower, put forth into motion and action, that, was what Karin held as archetypal power. Never before had she seen this reflected in her youngest more so than right now, pale alabaster skin flushed with blood, sitting tensely upon the pristine bed, an expression of fierce determination etched onto her features.

Karin had forged forth her rules of steel from this philosophical doctrine and shattered the chains that bound her since birth. She ascended the ranks of nobility and earned herself a reputation that struck fear into all those who knew her and of her. Her humble origins had faded into a tapestry of achievements so vast and immeasurable that only three people in the world knew of her non-noble heritage.

"Very well." She huffed at last, unsure if she was making the right choice. "I won't force the issue."

Louise's face lighted up with naked delight and Karin felt her irritation and anger bleed away at the utterly adorable sight. Meanwhile, the younger pinkette felt her familiar's rage abate and fade inside of her, and the sharp sensation of relief was making her light headed. She was very glad she was sitting on the bed, because the pinkette was almost certain her knees were trembling and she feared she would pass out at any moment.

"However." Karin said after a moment, and Louise felt a sudden feeling of foreboding pool below her stomach. "Your familiar is powerful. And power corrupts."

Louise was a little confused, but listened attentively to her mother's words. Her mother slowly seated herself on the hospital bed, eyes unfocusing slightly in reminiscence. After a moment's time, she blinked and turned to her daughter who was gazing apprehensively at her mother, knowing she would not like what was coming next.

"Power without a purpose corrupts." Karin continued, repeating what she had just said. Her eyes and expression suddenly became impenetrable, even to her daughter. "And with a familiar as temperamental and unpredictable as yours, I cannot let this matter go so easily. I know magic does not come easily to you, my little Louise." Here her eyes softened slightly, and Louise felt a flare of shame and love well inside her. Love for her mother mingled with shame at the single weakness that had plagued her the entirety of her young life. "I know all too well the temptation to rely on your familiar will be hard to resist, but you must make me a promise. Until you find a reason and purpose for such strength, you must not use your familiar as a crutch for your failures. Do you understand?" Karin waited, knowing Louise would understand.

Louise nodded slowly, after a moment's thought. Her lower lips trembled slightly, but her voice came out unwavering. "I think I do, mother." And she did, for although she desperately wished to remove the stigma attached to her, Louise knew in her heart of hearts that her mother was right. Despite gaining her familiar, Louise knew she had not earned any of it. A gift freely given did not mean the person receiving it deserved such a thing. The rules of steel did not permit such trivial brokerage of power. You earned what you needed, by your own hands, no more and no less.

But even though Louise knew all this, saw the fear in her mother's eyes, and even feared the same thing, it did not alleviate the hurt any, because for the very first time in her life, Louise had felt powerful and in control. When her familiar had lashed out against her mother, instinctively using a triangle fire spell that bordered on square level which she had only attempted once in passing, Louise remembered every single sensation in that instant, and it had seared itself into her memory banks with an indentation so deep, Louise felt like she would never be able to forget. The feeling of ecstasy as the spell conformed to her desires exactly as she desired it to, her magic flowing unperturbed and in perfect harmony with her will, made Louise tremble even now in remembrance. And though she knew it hadn't really been her, it had felt like it was her.

"I promise." She whispered softly, struggling to keep herself from taking the words back, knowing she did not know whether she could hold true to them. But she promised anyway, and vowed that she would endure and resist the temptation.

Her mother sighed, a deep and melancholic sigh and gently took her daughter in a tight embrace, feeling weary beyond her years. Louise herself blinked back tears, knowing it was the right thing to do, but hurt that she would have to continue to bear the burden of being the Zero.

"Good." Karin said at last, slowly disentangling herself from her daughter's arms, to the latter's disappointment and stood gracefully. "Then my business here is done. I will see you in a few months, so do try and stay out of trouble." The latter was spoken with soft affection, so rarely seen in her mother that Louise treasured the moment, saddened it could not last longer. Before her mother's departure, the older pinkette turned with some last words. "Remember that you are a Valliere, and before that, my little Louise." And then she was gone. The soft floral fragrance dispersing in her wake like soft mist under the early light of the morning sun.

Louise sat, going over her discussion with her mother in her mind's eye, and gave a melancholic sigh of disappointment. The soft round ball inside her stomach fluttered, and Louise was suddenly struck by a very important question. One which she had completely neglected to address earlier, having been distracted by all that was going on.

"What do I call you, I wonder?" She asked aloud, uncertain if her familiar could hear her, when, to her utmost astonishment, the answer came instantaneously to her. The name burst forth from the tip of her tongue, unbidden and foreign, and yet so right. "Aloisia." She muttered, and an echo of the name welled inside her. The rune on her forehead flickered softly, and for a second, under the muted lighting of the infirmary, one of her pink eyes seemed almost lavender in color.

Shortly thereafter, the headmaster came in to inquire on her state of health, and after being reassured by a thoroughly embarrassed Louise de la Valliere that everything was fine, she was allowed to depart the infirmary. The pinkette rushed to her room in as dignified a manner as possible, which was to say she walked as fast as she could to her sanctuary without eliciting any disparaging remarks, and quietly closed the door behind her. The pinkette was both frightened and curious of the rumors which had no doubt begun to circle around the academy and had no wish to be confronted by any of her peers. Louise plopped herself onto her bed with another long and drawn out sigh, then she burst into a soft giggle. "If you keep sighing, Louise, you'll grow worry lines!" She said the words aloud, reproaching herself for indulging in a bad habit, but could not bring herself to take the matter seriously. She was too engrossed with her feeling of elation and triumph. Flipping to one side, the pinkette cuddled her pillow tightly in her arms, curling around it with a joyful smile, and buried her head into the feather-filled headrest.

It was at this moment that her stomach decided to remind her she needed nutrients. With a soft growl, her stomach demanded to be fed. Blushing, and very glad no one had heard of her faux-pas, Louise quickly clambered to her feet and rang for a servant using the bell placed in every student's room. Within the space of a few heartbeats, a soft knock sounded outside her door. Louise opened it, and was greeted by the vaguely familiar face of a raven-haired servant girl. Dismissing the thought, Louise informed the servant she required some food, and the servant bowed before hurrying away to carry out her request.

It wasn't until the pinkette closed her door that she remembered why the servant was so familiar. She was the girl who had pitied her for her inability to do magic, and Louise felt a hot flush of shame at the memory.

When the servant girl returned later with a plate of hot food, Louise greeted her stiffly and with a stony face. "Thank you." She said curtly, and was about to close the door when the ink-haired girl opened her mouth to speak.

"I don't pity you." Her voice was calm, but there was a hint of nervousness in it that temporarily froze Louise on the spot. Taking her silence as a confirmation to continue, the maid hurriedly burst out what she had wanted to say, but had never been able to muster the courage to say it. "You're wrong! I've always admired you, because you never give up and you always keep trying so hard. I… I just wanted to tell you that." By the end of it, the poor girl was panting and staring resolutely at the ground, face aflame at her sudden outburst, feeling a mixture of relief and satisfaction and mortification at finally saying what she truly thought.

Louise was taken aback by the confession, and for a second simply gaped at the raven-tressed maid.

Siesta curtsied, and was about to walk away, saddened by the silence of the one girl whom she admired most in the academy, when Louise suddenly spoke. Heart thudding, she turned and peeked at the pinkette, who was staring slightly to the side, a small blush evident on her face.

"Is… is that so?" Louise cursed herself for her inelegance. Desperate to salvage the remainder of her shattered pride, she gazed into the expressive eyes of the maid and cleared her throat. "That is to say, what is your name?"

"S-Siesta, milady." She stammered out, frozen by the expressive pink eyes fixated on hers.

"Siesta." Louise said, testing the name and finding it to her liking. "You seemed to have brought me too much food."

The maid felt a pang of sadness at the harsh words. "I'll take it back," she muttered in a quivering voice.

"No." Louise hastily burst out, before quickly composing herself. "That is to say, it is too much for me alone. I would…" And here she paused, and quickly said the next few words in a rush. "Be grateful if you could help me finish it."

It took a moment for Siesta to unravel the words, and when she did, her eyes widened in shock at the breach of etiquette. For a noble to invite a servant into their own chambers to dine, such a thing was unheard of. "I… I…" She stammered, but Louise resolutely moved forward and caught the maid's hand in a firm grasp.

"You will not refuse me?" Louise half-asked, half-demanded as she tugged the still shocked maid into her room.

This was how Siesta found herself sitting cross-legged with the diminutive pinkette, sipping on a marvelous blend of tea, after having shared a most succulent meal.

For her part, Louise was busy thinking of what she was doing, half-horrified by her audacity and half-fearful of what rumors this would spark. But, to her growing astonishment, the small pinkette realized that she did not care one whit about it. Maybe it was the knowledge that she had not, in fact, failed the springtime summoning ritual, or maybe it was the acknowledgement of her mother, whatever the case, Louise found herself relaxing and enjoying the company of the servan-, no, Siesta.

"So you are from Tarbes?" Louise inquired, remembering a part of their earlier conversation when they ate.

"Yes, mil-, Louise." Siesta replied, blushing at the informal use of the pinkette's given name. Louise however, simply smiled. She had, after much coaxing and cajoling, convinced Siesta to use her given name in private.

Their conversation continued in this pleasant vein, with Louise asking most of the questions and Siesta replying, when something caught her attention. Siesta noticed a title of a book on a nearby shelf, and most likely due to her lowered guard, she gave a squeak of surprise and delight. Louise, of course, immediately inquired to her exclamation, and Siesta quickly informed her new friend that she was an avid fan of the series. Only too late did Siesta recall the indecent nature of the books and by that time it was far too late. Both girls quickly looked away in embarrassment, Siesta surprised that Louise read them, and Louise surprised that Siesta did as well. The awkward silence was broken when Louise began to laugh, unreservedly. Siesta, after a moment, joined in as she realized just how silly they had been. Eventually, after they recovered, Louise offered to lend her newfound friend the latest book in the series. Siesta graciously accepted, and Louise made her promise she would come back later that week.

And thus, did the friendship between them bloom.

Aloisia was, as Louise found out shortly, quite a fair bit more powerful than she had initially imagined. The pinkette knew she should not frivolously use her familiar's magic, but Louise reasoned that there was no harm in finding out the full extent of her familiar's abilities. She also wanted to fully explore her connection with her familiar. Responsibility flowed both ways, after all, and Louise was anxious to find out exactly what her familiar was and what she was capable of. In hindsight, she might have gone a tad bit overboard.

That fateful night, Louise had snuck out of her room to her new hidden training grounds, deep in the nearby forest, shivering excitedly at the thought of being able to do magic. When she reached the training grounds, she had immediately tried to perform the same spell her familiar had used on her mother. At first, everything proceeded exactly as they should, her magic whirling around her as it obeyed her will, then right as the spell was cast, an explosion occurred in place of fire. A crushing sense of disappointment flooded the pinkette. Louise did not understand why she could not use the spell. Aloisia responded to her call and took over her body. With the exact same motions, the spell executed itself perfectly and flawlessly. The poor tree was incinerated instantly, and Louise felt the familiar exhilarating thrill of magic being successfully performed. Aloisia simply tilted her head to one side, curious.

"How come I cannot do the spell like that?" Louise demanded, feeling a pout forming on her lips as her familiar scrutinized the forestry around her with fascination.

"Aloisia does not know." Her familiar's voice was sad, because she could feel her master's sadness radiating from inside. Knowing what would cheer her master up, she skipped to the still burning tree and sent a sparkling stream of water to douse the fire and prevent it from spreading. And yet, when Louise swapped back and tried to mimic the spell, knowing she did everything exactly as her familiar had, only an explosion happened. Sighing, Louise grimaced. After a few more attempts, Louise reluctantly gave up. It seemed, for whatever reason, that while Aloisia had a comprehensive knowledge of almost every spell to exist, and was able to use all four elements with an ease that made Louise intensely jealous, she could not replicate her familiar's feats even though it was her body. Even though she could feel herself cast the spell successfully, Louise could never pull it off alone once her familiar receded into the back of her mind. Aloisia could not help, for she did not know anything concerning her origins, but only knew that she could use magic however she pleased. Amusingly, Aloisia had her own names for the spells she used, ranging from the 'super fast fire pony' which was really just a horse made of fire that exploded upon impact, a solid square level fire manipulation spell, to 'sparkly lights of water' which was a wide area healing spell. Yes, her familiar was, roughly speaking, a hexadecagon mage. Or in other words, a square level mage in every element. The mystery of her familiar's origin deepened.

It was then, half in frustration and half in curiosity, Louise told her familiar to use the strongest spell she knew. Only later, would Louise realize that Aloisia was as innocent as a newborn child and did not understand how the world worked. The lavender eyed girl had immediately brightened at Louise's request and done as she asked, hoping to cheer her master up.

The first indication that something was wrong came when instead of immediately performing a spell, Aloisia raised her wand and began to wave it. Up till now, her familiar had no need of incantations or wand-waving, apart from the announcing of the spell and a soft jabbing motion at the end to send the spell away. This time, she drew a very complicated pattern in the air. Louise immediately learned the pattern, as was always the case when Aloisia performed a new spell and for a second the pinkette did not understand. Why was her familiar overlapping the four elements? It was as if she was trying to condense all four elements into one spell, ludicrous, for such a thing could not be don-.

A small round ball of magic, about the size of Louise's head shimmered into existence. It was deceptively innocuous. Then, Aloisia's knowledge of the spell filtered into Louise's mind and the pinkette's eyes popped open. "No!" She screamed, but it was too late.

Aloisia gave a cheerful jab of her wand and sent the small orb rocketing forward with some very fateful words. "Super explosion bubble!" Clearly it was self named, for no noble with any sense of propriety would name any spell like that. In the same instant, a large shield made of condensed air popped into existence before Aloisia.

Louise watched in slow motion, with a dawning sense of horror as the 'bubble' as her familiar affectionately called it, detonated. A pulse of magic exploded outwards, and the surrounding earth roared to life and a localized earthquake rocked the ground. Simultaneously, massive spikes of jagged earth speared outward and filled the air, piercing and shredding the nearby trees into splinters. Microseconds after, rings of pressurized water shot out of Aloisia's orb in wide arcs, bisecting and severing the trees into even further shards. Before the fragments of pulverized wood could shoot outward, the orb imploded into itself, sucking everything in its surrounding to its core. The spikes of earth rumbled and shattered, unable to endure the pressure from the miniature black hole. Then a small spark of red flickered in the very center of the 'four elements super explosion bubble', and Louise whimpered softly from inside her body. Aloisia had summoned a shield made of air to deflect any wayward projectile from injuring her, and giggled softly as in the next second, the entire world was engulfed in flames. The flames lasted for a few heartbeats, then died away as all the oxygen was consumed near instantly. When at last the spell dissipated, Louise was treated to the sight of catastrophic proportions. The land was completely barren, in the place of forestry and trees was a smoking crater, blackened and riddled with crevasses, and for maybe a few hundred meters in all directions from where the spell had detonated, it was as if an apocalypse had occurred. Aloisia tilted her head to the side as she contemplated the destruction before her.

"Should Aloisia make the bubble bigger?" Louise's familiar asked, her voice eager to reproduce the annihilating orb of magic on a grander scale. Inside her mind, Louise had fainted and was unable to respond. Shrugging, the lavender-eyed girl turned around to leave. Maybe her master was sleepy? And so she headed off to Louise's chambers, making sure to be extra quiet just like her master told her to be.

Kirche was the first to notice that ever since the arrival and departure of her mother, Louise de la Valliere's behavior changed. It was a subtle thing, almost imperceptible, but Kirche was very good at reading others. To others, Louise seemed no different from usual, her spells failing in spectacular explosions as usual, and her indignant replies to the goading was as amusing as ever. But to Kirche, Louise seemed a different creature altogether. For one thing, the pinkette was noticeably more relaxed in the classroom, and the previous sense of urgency Kirche detected from the Valliere was completely absent. It was also a lot more difficult to tease the pinkette, who before would always reply with a barb of her own, seemed to now take her words with a soft sense of amusement. Kirche found herself even more fascinated by the diminutive noble, and when the rumors that she had befriended a servant girl came to light, the redhead felt like it was a confirmation of her suspicions. Louise had changed. But why? Tabitha, who was perusing another book of hers, Kirche did not know where her blue-haired friend kept getting them, for it seemed that she had an endless supply of them, brought her friend out of her thoughts by rapping the taller girl on the head with her wand. "Class." She said, and slowly slid from her seat.

Pouting, Kirche melodramatically wailed at her cruel and insensate treatment by her best friend, but secretly continued to examine the pinkette sitting a little while away under the shade of a massive oak. Tabitha rolled her eyes at her friend's antics, but slowed down her pace so Kirche could continue to watch the pinkette. She could not understand why Kirche did not simply walk up to the pinkette and ask for her company, instead of engaging in all this childish bantering, but chalked it up to Kirche's flamboyant sense of style. Besides, it was true their families had a certain rivalry.

It was a sunny day, with nary a cloud in sight, and Louise felt extremely happy as she leaned against the tree trunk. She flushed slightly in remembrance of what she had done last night, then quickly sipped at her drink. As far as the pinkette was concerned, there was no reason to ever use that spell in any form whatsoever again. Still, she thought to herself as she sipped her drink absentmindedly, it had been an exhilarating experience. Aloisia was humming softly inside her, content that her master was feeling happy again.

A sudden commotion shook Louise from her reverie. Apparently something of great interest had happened nearby, and despite her indifference to the affairs of her peers, Louise professed that she was curious. Slowly, she clambered to her feet and brushed a few stray strands of grass from her dress and proceeded to walk toward the nearby noise. As she walked closer, she saw that a small crowd had gathered. Frowning, for Louise was very short and her peers were blocking her from seeing, she roughly nudged several of them aside. They let her, recognizing her pink hair and parting to let her pass, and as she burst onto the scene, she felt her blood run cold.

Siesta was on the ground cradling her hand with tears in her eyes. Montmorency stood over her, wand raised, a disdainful sneer on her visage.

 **I am going to go back to chapter two and fix some slight personality segments. Initially, Karin was also supposed to be an obstacle for Louise, but there is no need for that now.**

 **Things are still going slow now, but soon. Very soon. And everything will start with Louise's best friend. And no, I am not talking about Siesta. *wink wink, nudge nudge***

 **On a sidenote, do you guys want line breaks?**


End file.
